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Features > > Bilbio - The Other Bible Stories
Bilbio - The Other Bible Stories
 Bilbio is a series of short stories, thematically linked, that retell Bible stories from different perspectives. They are writen by Ryk McIntyre and published serialy every month.
Ryk McIntyre is a is a three-time National Poetry Slam
Team member, as well as Co-host at The Cantab Poetry
Reading. He has toured nationally and in Canada,
opening for acts as varied as Leon Redbone and Jim
Carroll, as well as appearing as part of Lollapalooza
1994. He has been published in Short-Fuse- An
Anthology Of New Fusion Poets, 100 Poets Against The
New World Order, Nth Position Magazine and The
Worcester
Review. He is a known biped.
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The Bed-Chapter Three- Epilogues
Posted by John on Monday, May 07, 2007 (12:55:54)
Epilogue 2- The Truth About Ravens and Doves
It is written in The Book of Genesis that , while still at sea, Noah released both a Raven and a Dove from the Ark, in hopes they would find evidence of land. It is also written that, while the Raven did not return, the Dove did, though it bore only bad news. The Dove eagerly did a second search and when it returned, it bore an olive branch in its beak, indicating the journey’s end was near.
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The Bed- Chapter Three, Epilogue One (concluded)
Posted by John on Monday, April 30, 2007 (03:46:38)
Cain straightened himself after Noah's attack, and brushed off the sleeves of his robe with a gesture of contempt and barely restrained counter-violence. “That was smart: 'attack the guy who invented violence!' It doesn’t matter how many times this Flood Story is told and retold, you never get any smarter, do you?” Smirking at Noah’s expression and piteously slurred “nnnnnnnnNNNO!! NNOOoooo...! Please God!!”, Cain continued,
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Chapter Three, Epilogue One- “It’s As If the Story Doesn’t Want to End”
Posted by John on Monday, April 23, 2007 (04:33:56)
“Forty Days and Forty Nights, my ass!” grumbled Ham, leaning on the Ark’s railing and looking out over the vast expanses of a flat and featureless sea. As if this time he might see something new. But the sea gave up nothing. Likewise, the empty horizon. “We were told that was how long this would last: forty days, forty nights, and done! That was the promise and it’s bullshit!” Shem glanced up, briefly considering pointing out-- again-- that forty and forty was the promised length of the rain. He immediately thought better of it-- there was just no talking to Ham when he got like this.
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"If You Come Together, Sometimes It Builds Itself
Posted by John on Monday, January 22, 2007 (18:43:35)
Every thing in the clearing, from Grace to the tiniest pixied imp, gathered in a circle around the contents of Eve’s package, which Grace had spilled onto the ground. The pieces of wood, scrap of blanket, feathers and wadding sat on the ground, doing nothing for all the attention given them, but somehow doing it significantly. Finally, with a snort, one of the minotaurs spoke up,
What’s supposed to happen now?”
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The Bed-Part Seven (continued)
Posted by John on Tuesday, January 02, 2007 (15:37:58)
Threads and Fragments and Eleventh Hours-Seven
The rain began to fall like it was hungry for gravity and eager for earth; like it was on purpose. It soaked the Ark site, prompting Noah and his sons to speed through the last-minute details. The sons tried to work carefully and methodically in the face of imminent disaster with the peace of mind of those who know there is a way out with their names on it.They did this mostly out of their devotion to God and His Plan. But really, it was that it helped mediate the squeezing-fist-in-the-guts worry about their wives’ strange disappearance. Except Ham, who maintained a cheery whistle as he battened down hatches and such.
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The Bed- Chapter Three, Parts Of Seven
Posted by John on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 (05:41:23)
Threads and Fragments, and Eleventh Hours-Five
For reasons best articulated by the tightening knot in her stomach, Grace started to run towards the village faster than she thought possible. She had no tangible reason to believe that something bad was going on there, but she did. And she caught the smell of “wrong” in the air before she even heard the commotion.
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The Bed- Chapter Three, Parts Of Seven
Posted by John on Monday, December 18, 2006 (13:00:00)
Threads and Fragments, and Eleventh Hours-Two
Once there were three women from different villages that all came to be married to the three Sons Of Noah. The marriages were more-or-less happy, and the women were likely satisfactory spouses. And like their mother-in-law, the stories about them that have survived until today leave them nameless. Even this story doesn’t know what their names were. So, as with Grace, we will give them names for the short time they will need them. The wives of the Shem and Ham are Faith and Hope. The woman married to Ja-Pheth was once known by a name already obscure in her language even before it was lost to history. The best, rough translation that survives is “She who recognizes possibility”, but even that is crude, wishful and not wholly accurate. So we will call her “Courage”.
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Chapter Six-Part Three (conclusion)
Posted by John on Saturday, December 09, 2006 (03:53:37)
Lilith, Eve and Cain quietly watched Grace, as she struggled. They knew that- in her few, agonized words- Grace had committed herself, whether she knew it yet or not. All three of them knew what that felt like- that moment where you realize your course of action goes down one path, even while the Will Of God points out the path not taken. But this rebellion would be different. This time it wasn’t about sex, or forbidden knowledge or murder. This time it was all about Life. Endangered Life; Life stuck in a corner with its back to the extinction wall, having no way out except the impossible. But that’s what Life does. It finds a way through, even if it has to change shape to squeeze through to a miracle.
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The Bed- Chapter Three
Posted by John on Monday, October 23, 2006 (01:23:02)
Part Six (Yes...it’s still continued...)
Lilith, Eve and Cain quietly watched Grace from a distance, as she struggled with her decision and her despair. They knew that, in but a few, agonized words, Grace had committed herself, whether she knew it yet or not. What she was going through now were the labor pains of that resolve. All three of them knew what that felt like. That sudden, still moment when you realize your course of action is going down one path, even as the Will Of God points out the path not taken.
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The Bed - Chapter Three, Part 6 (continued even more)
Posted by John on Monday, August 07, 2006 (07:43:45)
“What the hell is a ‘cubit’?” asked Lilith.
“It’s not important,” said Grace with a relieved smile. “It’s just, you’d be surprised how many times I’ve heard that same question in the last week." She fell quiet, disoriented by the sinking feeling in her gut that she was taking all this seriously; that this was all happening. She really was going to do this. “So…” Grace quietly spoke, finally, “in order to save all these impossible animals, there needs to be a second Ark, and this Ark needs to be big enough even for the mountain-size creatures. And,” she indicated the small bundle Eve had given her, “I’m going to build it with this?”
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The Bed-Chapter Six-Part Three (continued more...)
Posted by John on Monday, July 24, 2006 (00:00:00)
Storming out of the house, Grace just picked a direction and then walked towards it. She’d be damned if she was going to listen to another word from Noah. Fuming, she didn’t so much walk as she pounded each word into the ground with her feet. “He did it again!”, she thought, “He did it to me again! And I let him! I believed in him, despite all precedence, that 'one more time'...and he disappoints me...again.”
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The Bed-Chapter Three, Part 6 (continued)
Posted by John on Monday, July 17, 2006 (10:05:00)
Noah and Grace stood there, in the main room of their house, stuck together in the echo of their simultaneous request to talk, unsure who should go first. In the past, of course Grace deferred to Noah in the manner of women of her day, unless she was really angry about his drinking or some specific incident. Otherwise she deferred for the sake of a peaceful household. Noah, for his part, always spoke first and never paid much attention to it. He was Head Of the Household after all. So what he had to say was always priority. This time was no different.
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The Bed- Chapter Three
Posted by John on Monday, July 10, 2006 (15:36:57)
Part Six- "The Days Just Won't Add Up"
When any story is over, at the end it all comes down to numbers. Because unlike so many other things in the world, numbers don’t lie. They don’t describe the world through tinted bias, only through the binary function of “true” or “false.” There is no grey area. Numbers speak the truth because it’s the only language they know. Numbers will tell you when things just don’t add up.
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The Bed- Chapter Three
Posted by John on Saturday, June 10, 2006 (15:46:03)
Part Five: “A Count-Down Is Just A Goodbye Spoken In Numbers”
As the winds returned the scattered plans and laid them in a neat pile before their feet the sons of Noah realized they didn’t need to understand their father’s plans. They merely had to follow them. The process was already there, it just needed a few good moving parts. As one, the three sons relaxed. Things would be ok. This Ark was a thing that needed to made, a thing God had commanded be built. It would be built. All they had to do was have faith. Then just pick up the next, right piece of gopher wood, and place it where it wanted to go. It seemed so clear now, what had been so confounding moments before.
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"Biblio- The Other Bible Stories"
Posted by John on Monday, May 15, 2006 (10:10:00)
Chapter Three: "If You Build It, They Will Come And Laugh At You"
Interlude- The Animal Planet (Continued)
But no matter how fast or slow the pairs of animals moved, they were all racing against time. There was no room for other concerns. The herbivores and the carnivores marched nearby each other without incident. The Red Rules of Nature had been set aside. None of the animals stopped to eat. Although some animals that only ever paired to mate walked side by side, there was no time for that either. None of the animals carried any young; none of the females were pregnant.
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"Biblio- The Other Bible Stories"
Posted by John on Monday, May 08, 2006 (10:15:00)
“If You Build It, They Will Come And Laugh At You" (Part One)
“So at least we can all agree what the problem is, right?” Shem asked wearily, in a vain attempt once again to stop Ham and Ja-Pheth from arguing. “Hey! Can you both just STOP?” he finally shouted, louder than the two younger siblings combined. Shem had that kind of commanding voice. Plus of the sons of Noah, he was the eldest. Therefore, he had the authority when Noah wasn’t around. Shem sat back on a pile of timbers. He could feel the waves of tension throb through the air between his two, for the moment, silent younger brothers. It was hard enough to work under the punishing noon day sun, without all the bickering. And Noah’s instructions, excitedly scratched on a handful of parchment scrolls, were of little help. Actually, it was the instructions themselves that were the source of most of the argument, and all of the misery.
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The Bed- Chapter Three, Part Two
Posted by John on Monday, April 17, 2006 (10:45:00)
"For The Wives Of Alcoholics"
It had never been easy being Noah’s wife. It’s never easy for anyone who is close with an alcoholic. There’s a “walking on the edge of disaster” feeling to every single day, except the days with actual disasters. You wake up, and the first thing you worry is which type of day it's going to be. And you pray, all your hope vs all precedent, that this will be one of the good days. If all that means, is that it is uneventful, still you thank God. You might even get the feeling things could get better. Unless you have lived with an alcoholic for a long time. By that point most illusions have been worn down to nub. So you just try to enjoy it, and save the energy up for the next bad day. After all, it’s a matter of “when” not “if". That is the only constant in your life.
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The Bed- Chapter Three: The Story Arcs
Posted by John on Monday, April 03, 2006 (10:05:00)
Part One: “Thou Shalt Have No Porcelain Gods Before Me!”
“There are,” Noah slurred horizontally, gazing over a stale pool of his own vomit, “Good grapes and there are Bad grapes. Those eight jugs of wine I drank last night were definitely, definitely...Bad grapes." Noah believed this like it was scripture. Not that this profound faith wasn’t something he tested and re-tested on a nightly, often daily, and mostly constant basis. "I'm not a drunk," Noah thought, "I'm a very diligent chemist!" . Then he threw up again.
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The Bed- Chapter Three (Prelude)
Posted by John on Monday, March 27, 2006 (10:15:00)
The Bed
Chapter Three-Prelude
"...And To All Our Ships At Sea..."
There is a boat out at sea, sailing just past the edge of the world. Plain and unremarkably wooden, its sides are worn so smooth, that it can move in and out of memory; so streamlined that water is happy just to flow along by. It is a fine, fine boat. Long and wide, it was made from a most singular wood, built according to suggestions and desperate necessities, rather than exact measurements; built by teamwork. It is said, you could wander its ever-changing passageways and bulkheads for all time, and never fail to discover something new. But you’d never fear to get lost, because you just know, wherever you are on this boat, you are home. It is a ship full of such impossibilities.
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The Bed - Chapter Two
Posted by John on Monday, March 13, 2006 (15:05:40)
Afterlude: A Song About A Stranger
We have only known him for hours now,
we are not sure why, but we do not like him.
We are not unfriendly to strangers,
we just don’t like him.
Still, we give him wine and oranges
the best place next to the fire
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The Bed, Chapter Two - Epilogue Two
Posted by John on Monday, February 27, 2006 (08:05:00)
A Story Told 'Round A Distant Campfire
“...It all begins with one of the rare mistakes God has
made...and that would be all of this world you see around us.
Making the World this way was God’s second
choice. Originally God envisioned a world full of
Ocean. His Children would be seamless, streamlined
creatures, as graceful as His echoes. Ever-moving
little dreams of God. The flesh made fish, if you
will.
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The Bed, Chapter Two - Epilogue: What One Heart Misses, Another Heart Misses
Posted by John on Monday, February 13, 2006 (10:05:00)
All the while Eve and Cain had been talking, Adam had
been in near-hysterics as he searched the house. He
raced from room to room, throwing everything
around in an increasing frenzy. He had come
back to the house to prepare Abel’s body for burial,
only to find it gone, along with the bed on which
Abel’s body had been placed. The same bed where
Adam’s beloved son had been conceived. Adam ransacked
the house a half-dozen times more. When that didn’t
work, he raced through the front door, past the yard,
and out into the miles and miles of land where their
fields lay. ‘Why me, oh God? “ Adam cried.
In his wake, the house was a
wreck. All Adam could do was keep repeating, "His body is missing."
Adam didn’t even notice other things
that were missing; some clothes, sandals, dried fruit,
a water-skin, some oils and balms.
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The Bed, Chapter Two - God has overreacted
Posted by John on Monday, January 30, 2006 (09:10:00)
‘Cain, why do you strike me? You have hurt me badly!’
‘Oh Brother,’ I hissed, ‘I feel your pain, I truly
do. This is really going to hurt you.’ And then I hit
him again, not hard, but several times, as if to mock
him. To show him what all his arrogance was really
worth; to pay him back for all the preening he did in
front of the spiritual mirror he called his life. And for being such an asshole. For every injustice I
had ever endured. When he appealed to
me, wasn’t my blood just like his blood? Were we not
of the same flesh? I said, ‘ The good news, Abel,
is that our blood is the same; the bad news is that
yours is all over the place. And your body is a chorus
of bruises and, as far as I can tell, I don’t have a
single mark on mine.�?
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The Bed, Chapter Two continued
Posted by John on Monday, January 16, 2006 (11:15:00)
“Except the Snake," Cain said, “from what you’ve
told me, he was a bit of a talker."
“ Yes, and very smooth, too. I wonder what became of him?"
Eve mused, a moment. “To continue: for all of your
father’s newfound sense of “Dominion Over The Beasts
Of The Field, And The Field Too"; for all his expert
butchery, I have to say: he was useless when I became
pregnant. It’s funny- as soon as the swelling
started, the nausea, the cramps, raging hormone
swings, and transforming body parts, I thought, ‘ This
must be The Judgment God placed on me!’ I would find out
soon how wrong I was.
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The Bed, Chapter Two
Posted by John on Monday, January 02, 2006 (09:50:00)
"First Things First, Everything Else Comes Later"
It has been said since, that if people stare into the
Void, eventually the Void stares back at them. But
it didn’t happen this way, not the first time. Cain
and Eve had been staring into the void at The Known
World’s Edge, but the Void could not bear to look back
at them. They had been sitting there for hours, their
words unvoiced, gathering. Only the yellow sun in the
blue sky marked time; only the dust was settled.
Sometimes, a question raised its thin head, moved
uncertainly between the two, looking for an opening,
only to lose it’s balance and fall over the edge, lost
and never spoken.
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